Coin controlled appliance timer

ABSTRACT

An appliance timer in which the timer control shaft is rotated to initiate a cycle of operation by the action of a coin slide upon a cam. The cam is connected to a collar coupled to the timer shaft, and is rotatable relative to the collar. A spring resiliently biases the cam for engagement with the head of a screw securing the collar to the timer shaft, so that when the coin slide is advanced forward the cam turns the timer shaft to a cycle starting position, and when the coin slide is withdrawn, the cam turns in the reverse direction to allow return of the coin slide to its starting position.

Stes Patent [191 Greenwald COIN CONTROLLED APPLIANCE TIMER Harry Greenwald, Whitestone, NY.

[73] Assignee: Walter Kidde-& Company, Inc.,

Clifton, NJ.

[22] Filed: Nov. 13, 1972 [2]] App]. No.: 305,974

[75] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl. 74/107, 74/104 {51] Int. Cl .Q Fl6h 21/44 [58] Field of Search 74/107, l04; 273/118 R; 188/268 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,947,186 8/l960 Greenwaldm, 74/107 3,052,329

9/1962 Budofsky 74/107 [451 May 14,1974

3,056,307 10/1962 Bowman 74/107 Primary Examiner-Samuel Scott Assistant Examiner-Wesley S. Ratliff, Jr.

[57 ABSTRACT An appliance timer in which the timer control shaft is rotated to initiate a cycle of operation by the action of a coin slide upon a cam. The cam is connected to a collar coupled to the timer shaft, and is rotatable relative to the collar. A spring resiliently biases the cam for engagement with the head of a screw securing the collar to the timer shaft, so that when the coin slide is advanced forward the cam turns the timer shaft to a cycle starting position, and when the coin slide is withdrawn, the cam turns in the reverse direction to allow return of the coin slide to its starting position.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures 1 COIN CONTROLLED APPLIANCE TIMER BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the coin control mechanism This invention relates in general to coin controlled of the invention is illustrated as enclosed within a housappliances, and more particularly to a coin controlled appliance timer having a timer shaft that is rotated from a reference position to initiate a cycle of appliance operation when a coin slide is advanced to a given position.

Such coin controlled timers are known generally in the art, and the present invention is an improvement of the, timer mechanism shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,052,329.

One of the problems of such timer mechanism is that the cam device employed for turning the timer shaft had a return spring that was connected to a specially machined plate, that also served as a cam stop. The in vention eliminates the. need for that machined plate and instead utilizes the projecting head of a screw that secures the cam support collar to the shaft, to serve as a cam stop, and also to serve as the means for securing one end of the spring to the collar. 1

In general, the improvement of the invention can be stated as comprising the combination of a collar disposed to receive the timer shaft and having a threaded aperture; a screw received in said threaded aperture to secure the collar to the timer shaft and having a bead extending radially outward from the collar, a cam con nected to the collar for rotation relative thereto and disposed for engagement by means carried on the coin slide for rotation thereby, the cam having a part disposed to engage the head of the screw to rotate the collar and shaft in a forward direction to a cycle-starting position when the coin slide is advanced to a given position, and resilient means biasing the cam for engagement with the screw head to constrain the collar and cam for rotation in unison in the forward direction and toallow rotation of the cam relative to the collar in the reverse direction to accommodate return of the coin slide to a starting position.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be had'to the accompanying drawings and following detailed description which together exemplify a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view, partly broken away, of a coin control mechanism embodying the improvement of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the mechanism shown in FIG. I as taken along line 22 therein.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the mechanism of FIG. 1 as taken along line 3-3 therein.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cam device illustrating the movement thereof when the coin slid is pushed forward.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the cam device illustrating the movement thereof when the coin slide is pulled back ward.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the cam device as seen in a reference position assumed when the cam slide is either pushed forward past the cam or retracted to a starting position in front of the cam.

ing 10 having a conforming security fit on the upper surface 11 of an appliance, such as an automatic clothes washer, having a timer provided with a control shaft 12. A coin slide assembly generally indicated at 13, is mounted through a front wall 14 of housing 10 and includes a coin-receiving coin slide 15. Just below assembly 13, partitions such as 16 define a coin chamber having a coin drawer (not shown) locked therein in the usual manner. When a coin is inserted into coin slidel5 and slide 15 is pushed inward in a forward direction, the coin drops into such coin drawer from which accumulated coins are collected at intervals by a service man. 1

Coin slide 15 has a plate 17 secured to its inner end which carries a timer shaft operator, such as a depending roller 18. The time shaft operating mechanism is mounted on an angular bracket 19 including a short upright wall 20 secured to housing 10 by typical screws 21. Bracket 19 has a horizontal wall 22 which rotatably supports a stub shaft 31 to which a coupling 33 is secured beneath wall 22. Coupling 33 connects shaft 31 to a short shaft 34 that is coupled to shaft 12 that goes into the timer (not shown).

The timer (not shown) associated with shaft 12 is of a conventional type which, when shaft 12 is rotated from a reference position in a forward direction effects initiation of a timed cycle of appliance operation. The timer contains means (not shown) such as a spring that biases shaft 12 for return to its reference position. It should be understood that the term timer shaft is intended to designate the combination of coupled shafts 31, 34, and 12, the shafts 31 and 34 being used merely to provide a convenient extension of shaft 12. In the event that shaft 12 should be located in alignment for direct coupling to collar 35, the shafts 31, 34 and coupling 33 can be omitted.

The invention provides a collar 35 that receives timer shaft 12 and has a radially threaded aperture 35A which receives a screw 36 to secure collar 35 to shaft 31. A cam 37 is connected to collar 35 for rotation relative thereto. Cam 37 is disposed for engagement by roller 18 for rotation thereby, as better seen in FIGS. 2-5.

Cam 37 has a depending part 38 disposed to engage the head of screw 36, which extends radially outward of collar 35, to rotate the collar and shafts 31, 34 and 12 in unison, in a forward direction to a cycle-starting position when coin slide 15 is advanced to a given forward position.

A coil spring 32 disposed around collar 35, resiliently biases cam 37 so that part 38 thereof engages the head of screw 36. For such purpose, one end of spring 32 is secured to collar 35 by hooking over screw 36, and the other end of spring 32 is secured to cam 37 by hooking over a notch 39 therein. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 4,

roller 18 moving forward in contact with cam 37 turns the cam 37, collar 35 and timer shaft combination 31, 34, 12 in unison, such that shaft 12 arrives at the cyclestarting position just before the roller 18 sweeps past,

and out of contact with cam 37. Once roller 18 is out of contact with cam 37, the restoring spring in the timer brings the cam, collar and shaft combination 31, 34, 12

back to the reference starting position shown in FIG. 6. The spring 32 allows cam 37 to rotate relative to collar 35 in the reverse direction to allow roller 18 to be brought back past cam 37, as shown in FIG. 5, and thereby accommodating the return of coin slide to the starting position, without any turning of the timer shaft combination 31, 34, 12.

From the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, it can be appreciated that the invention is adapted to many modifications to suit the needs of a particular application, and such modifications will become obvious from the exemplification of the invention herein.

What is claimed is:

1. ln a coin controlled appliance timer having a timer shaft that is rotated from a reference position to initiate a timed cycle of appliance operation when a coin slide is advanced in a direction transverse to the shaft rotation axis to a given position, the improvement which comprises a collar disposed to receive said timer shaft and having a threaded aperture, a screw received in said threaded aperture to secure the collar to the timer shaft and having a head extending radially outward from the collar, a cam connected to said collar for rotation relative thereto and disposed for engagement by means carried on said coin slide for rotation thereby, said cam having a part disposed to engage the head of said screw to rotate the collar and shaft in a forward direction to a cycle-starting position when the coin slide is advanced to said given position, and a spring having one end hooked over a part of said screw and secured to the collar thereby and the other end hooked over a notch in said cam and biasing said cam for engagement with the head of said screw to constrain the collar and cam for rotation in unison in the forward direction and to allow rotation of the cam relative to the collar in the reverse direction to accommodate return of the coin slide to a starting position. 

1. In a coin controlled appliance timer having a timer shaft that is rotated from a reference position to initiate a timed cycle of appliance operation when a coin slide is advanced in a direction transverse to the shaft rotation axis to a given position, the improvement which comprises a collar disposed to receive said timer shaft and having a threaded aperture, a screw received in said threaded aperture to secure the collar to the timer shaft and having a head extending radially outward from the collar, a cam connected to said collar for rotation relative thereto and disposed for engagement by means carried on said coin slide for rotation thereby, said cam having a part disposed to engage the head of said screw to rotate the collar and shaft in a forward direction to a cycle-starting position when the coin slide is advanced to said given position, and a spring having one end hooked over a part of said screw and secured to the collar thereby and the other end hooked over a notch in said cam and biasing said cam for engagement with the head of said screw to constrain the collar and cam for rotation in unison in the forward direction and to allow rotation of the cam relative to the collar in the reverse direction to accommodate return of the coin slide to a starting position. 